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Chapter 461
The Path of the Boxer is Round 461 of Morikawa Jouji's Hajime no Ippo manga series. Details *Characters Introduced: Kizakura Hiroshi, Akamatsu Isamu, Team Aoki *Title Page Character(s): Kimura Tatsuya, Makunouchi Ippo, Itagaki Manabu, Takamura Mamoru Summary A week after Aoki's match, Kimura, Ippo, Itagaki, and Takamura debated on if Aoki would retire or not. Takamura thought that since Aoki has a job and a girlfriend, Aoki should retire before he destroyed his health. Kimura told them that he thought about retiring after his title match. Ippo added that he thought about it too, when his mother collapsed from overwork, when he thought there was no way he could keep boxing. Takamura pointed out as well that he thought of retiring after defeating the bear, since he knew there was no longer anything alive stronger than himself. He didn't know if there was any meaning to keep fighting. Itagaki started to get depressed over it, but Takamura told him didn't have time to worry about others when he was small fry. Takamura added, there was a "Path" leading to the belt. On a worldwide scale, the path was always a huge traffic jab. Anyone who stopped in his tracks will be left behind. He doesn't plan on stopping since he had a goal to conquer six weight classes. Yagi arrived to tell Ippo he had a visitor to see him, Kobashi Kenta. Ippo and Itagaki was surprised to see the junior featherweight champion, but Kobashi revealed that he is a "Former" champion. He added that he wasn't able to defend his title once, and only became champion with a stroke of luck. He told Ippo that he retired, since he delivered his formal notice of resignation. Itagaki thought Kobashi could made a comeback, but Kobashi had no regrets over it. He explained to Ippo that he was lucky to have met him. He mentioned that his match with Ippo help him. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have been able to fight his hardest. Ippo wondered what Kobashi planned to do now, but Kobashi mentioned he picked up trainee mitts a month previous. Even though it was difficult, Kobashi though it was really worth doing. Ippo cheered him on. Kobashi mentioned that Sendō was going to have a comeback match soon, and the upcoming Rookie King Tournament. Itagaki thought that the year Kobashi took part, there were a lot of great rookies. Kobashi agreed, with some many who wore the belt like Sendō, Mashiba, Miyata, and Ippo. Ippo added Kobashi name too. Itagaki was glad he wasn't part of that generation since it was so talented. Kobashi pointed out that the victor of it was Ippo, and everyone else that wasn't previous mentioned have already retired. He told Ippo that he was standing at Japan's apex in a harsh world, and defend his title 4 times. It wasn't by being lucky, since he did it by his own strength. He wanted Ippo to go as far as he can. He asked Ippo what his motive/goal, or why he started boxing. He remembered that he simply wanted to get stronger, so he worked hard at it, but he still can't come up with the answer. As Kobashi was leaving, he told Ippo that he planned to keep watching him. As Ippo and Itagaki head back to gym, Ippo starts pondering his future and where his path will lead. Later, Aoki finally arrived at the gym, where he mentioned that he planned to retire from boxing, but Kizakura Hiroshi and Akamatsu Isamu introduced themselves. They were impressed by Aoki's match, and asked Aoki to become their master. After he became a hero to them, Aoki decided to continue to box, and he made fun of Kimura for not doing the the same after his title match. Takamura thought that meant he had more gophers to do stuff for him, but they told him they belonged to Team Aoki as they ignored his order to buy some juice for him. Aoki told them to go it for him, where they obeyed only him. Category:Manga Category:Manga Chapters Category:Manga Chapters 401 to 500 Category:Volume 51 Category:Dragon Slayer Arc Chapters